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Disability Benefit Statistics

March 1, 2002

Question written on 01/03/2002

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many young people aged 0 to 16 live in households in which an adult is in receipt of (a) incapacity benefit and (b) disability living allowance; and what percentage of these househol

Answered by Nick Brown

Such information as is available is presented in the table:Number of young people aged 16 or under living in households where an adult is in receipt of certain disability benefits, and percentage of these individuals living in households with below 60 per cent. of median incomePercentage of young people aged 16 or under living with adults in receipt of benefits listed who are also in households with below 60 per cent. of median incomeTotal number of young people aged under 16 living with adults in receipt of benefits listedAdult in Household in receipt of:Before Housing CostsAfter Housing CostsIncapacity Benefit4454340,000Disability Living Allowance2532430,000Notes: 1. All figures are estimates and are taken from the Family Resources Survey (FRS). The FRS does not include Northern Ireland, and 19992000 is the latest year for which data is available.2. Figures relating to the percentage of individuals living in households with below 60 per cent. of median income have been taken from the Households Below Average Income (HBAI) series which is derived from the FRS data set. These have been presented on both a Before and After Housing Costs basis to take into account variations in housing costs as is standard HBAI practice. No adjustment has been made to household disposable income as used in HBAI to take into account any additional costs that may be incurred due to the illness or disability in question.3. The estimates are sample counts that have been adjusted for non-response using the multipurpose grossing factors that control for tenure type, Council Tax band and a number of demographic variables. Estimates are subject to both sampling error and variability in non-response. Numbers of people are rounded to the nearest 10,000 and percentages to the nearest whole percent.4. In this context, an adult has been defined as any individual aged 17 or over.5. Benefit receipt on the FRS is based on self-assessment and therefore may be subject to mis-reporting. In particular, caseload comparisons between FRS and DWP administrative data would suggest that the FRS under counts receipt of DLA and therefore the figure of 430,000 provided in the table should be treated with caution.6. Numbers in the two rows should not be added, as there will be some overlap between the two groups. For example, people in receipt of Incapacity Benefit may well receive in addition other benefits relating to their needs, including Disability Living Allowance Care component or Disability Living Allowance Mobility component depending on their care or mobility needs.Source:Family Resources Survey 19992000.